Saturday, January 28, 2017

ACA Replacement Absent, GOP In Turmoil

A recording of the recent GOP summit to replace the Affordable Care Act has been released and it shows that Republicans aren't quite on the same page on repeal and replace, with many having wildly different ideas on how to implement the new policies. They had also discussed the political ramifications of their actions and how unpopular it would be for them to repeal the almost decade old law from the previous administration.

Republican lawmakers aired sharp concerns about their party’s quick push to repeal the Affordable Care Act at a closed-door meeting Thursday, according to a recording of the session obtained by The Washington Post.

The recording reveals a GOP that appears to be filled with doubts about how to make good on a long-standing promise to get rid of Obamacare without explicit guidance from President Trump or his administration. The thorny issues with which lawmakers grapple on the tape — including who may end up either losing coverage or paying more under a revamped system — highlight the financial and political challenges that flow from upending the current law.

Senators and House members expressed a range of concerns about the task ahead: how to prepare a replacement plan that can be ready to launch at the time of repeal; how to avoid deep damage to the health insurance market; how to keep premiums affordable for middle-class families; even how to avoid the political consequences of defunding Planned Parenthood, the women’s health-care organization, as many Republicans hope to do with the repeal of the ACA.

This predicament is quite interesting being that Republicans had voted over fifty times to repeal the law during the Obama years to no avail, claiming to have a better idea ready to go. They championed "repeal and replace" and tried to convince voters that they would be taken care of but now that they have the opportunity to actually enact their policies it is revealed they actually have none. On top of that, it appears Republicans are more concerned with keeping their party in political power than anything else. They had created all of these wedge issues but had no plan on actual governance, which leads you to wonder just what they actually wanted to do when they got into power.

It is also interesting to see that in just a week of the Trump administration it appears that there is a tremendous amount of turmoil. I only imagine it getting worse as the Republicans pretend to govern.